Plants Vs. Zombies, Infinity Blade Honored At International Mobile Gaming Awards

The city of Barcelona played host to the 7th annual International Mobile Gaming Awards during Mobile World Congress, where PopCap's Plants vs. Zombies won Best Casual Game. A total of six titles were crowned in as many categories from among five nominees each. Winners were chosen by "an international jury of experts," which chose finalists from among 260 games from 40 different countries. AR Invaders, which brings alien invaders into real-world locations, earned the title of Best Real-World Game for Israeli team Soulbit, while Germany's Fishlabs took Best Sports Game with Snowboard Hero. Epic Games and Chair Entertainment's critically-acclaimed Infinity Blade, which showcases the company's Unreal Development Kit for iOS, earned the Excellence in Design nod, while German FDG Entertainment took Excellence in Gameplay with Beyond Ynth, a puzzle-based platformer starring a little bug named Kribi. Beyond Ynth also earned the "Grand Prix" award, which means FDG Entertainment will have the chance to "discuss potential opportunities" with mobile platform Orange, the awards' platinum sponsor. The title of "Most Innovative Game" was awarded to UK-based Somethin' Else's Papa Sangre, a game that uses a bare minimum of graphics and instead primarily relies on creepy sound cues to guide the player on a quest to find a lost soul. The event also recognized a People's Choice Award winner selected by online vote -- that nod went to Mobigame's Perfect Cell -- and an Operators' Choice Award, selected by operators involved in the event who chose Fishlabs' Snowboard Hero. "This year’s nominees offered a wealth of innovation, visual quality and addictive gameplay," says IMGA CEO and founder Maarten Noyons. "The selection of the six category winners and the Grand Prix winner is not only the result of long and very vivid deliberations by the jury but also a lot of fun playing the nominated games."